Danns.co.uk

It was my birthday a little under a month ago, and Sophie really nailed a surprise gift. We'd been talking about getting pet rats for a while. It's been a wish of mine for many a year, but whenever we talked about getting some we always resigned ourselves to not being able to afford a large enough cage etc...

Anyway, Sophie completely took me by surprise on my birthday by presenting me with cage, toys, and all the trimmings. She got a bargain of a second-hand cage in very good condition for around £20 on eBay! (They're usually more like £100.) She also got an appointment to visit a rat breeder that had a litter of ratlets ready to leave their siblings that day. We came away with 2 female husky rats, and here they are:

Layla and Narnia

Layla on my shoulder

Narnia on my arm

Layla in the food bowl

They've grown a little since then, but they're still incredibly cute. The surprising thing is just how much personality they have compared to hamsters or guinea pigs. Narnia's very playful, and loves a good scritch and an energetic chase. She's also more confident and is usually the first one to poke her head out when one of us walks into the room. Layla is more affectionate and is happier to stay on your shoulder or just sit in your hand and be stroked. She is very acrobatic though, and seems to enjoy climbing upside-down on the top of the cage.

Rats are brilliant!